Whether you are staying in-country or preparing for the international expedition of a lifetime, it’s likely that your Android device will play an important role in your journey. While there are lots of apps that can make your backpacking adventures better, some stand head and shoulders above the rest.
Here are five backpacking apps worth trying!
Google Translate
When you are backpacking, you will cross paths with a wide range of interesting people – and if you are in a place where people speak different languages, you’ll enjoy yourself far when you can understand what others are saying. Google Translate is a free app that translates phrases for you. While it currently covers more than 60 languages in typed form, it’s the 17 languages you can have translated in spoken form that will probably prove most useful. Just open up the app, say something (or have another person do so) and communicate to your heart’s content.
Another 24 languages let you enter words and phrases manually, and then provide audible translations as well as written ones that can be seen in full-screen mode so others can read easily from an arm’s length. What if you have no signal? Google Translate offers downloadable dictionaries in different languages. Be sure to get the ones you need before you leave home.
Viber Out
Viber Out is a free app that lets you use your favorite devices to chat with people on your contacts list or make phone calls to landlines and mobile numbers alike. The app uses end-to-end encryption to ensure that conversations are secure, and it lets you place international calls as well as domestic ones. With Viber, you can connect with anyone, anywhere, using the power of VoIP and a WiFi signal. Viber rates are often far lower than what you’ll pay for a cellular or landline call, particularly if you are interested in avoiding expensive roaming charges. The service has been around for years and has millions of users worldwide.
Calls to others who also use the Viber app are free, and there are lots of cool extras like video chat, texting, and group chats for up to 250 members. This app works on a variety of Android devices, and if you happen to carry more than one, you’ll be glad to know that you can sync it up and carry on conversing. Put a little bit of credit onto your account before you leave home and you’ll be set.
HostelBookers
Affordable accommodations top the list of backpacking wants. HostelBookers helps you find a place to stay, offering rooms at more than 3,500 destinations all over the planet. Whether your travels take you to Thailand, India, London or any other popular backpacking destinations, this app can help you find a comfortable place to rest for the night.
Not only does it help with booking, HostelBookers provides useful guides and travel tips designed for backpackers and budget travelers in mind. Photos, user ratings, and detailed information helps with the decision-making process.
Maps.me
No backpacking expedition is complete without a reliable map or two, particularly when that map allows you to use your Android to navigate even when you have no connection. Maps.me is one of the best-rated mapping apps available, with millions of satisfied users worldwide. Besides offering navigation and directions for walking, cycling, and taking other forms of transportation, it provides in-depth information on points of interest in the area where you are located, and it allows you to bookmark places you’ve enjoyed for later sharing.
This app uses OpenStreetMap (OSM), which users need to update on a daily basis to get new information. It even includes traffic data for cities in 36 different countries, and it lets you search for whatever you need, including restaurants, ATMs, public transport stations, and much more. Last but certainly not least, the Maps.me app tells you whether you’ll be traveling uphill or downhill when you are cycling or walking.
The VOLO Travel Journal
You are traveling light, yet you want to keep a detailed record of your adventures. That’s where the VOLO: Your Travel Journal app comes in. Like some other top backpacking apps featured here, this one works offline once you download it. You can use it to create stories, complete with photos and notes. You can then share them with others or savor in privacy. When traveling with others, this app helps co-create a larger, shared story and sync it to social media. VOLO travel journal does even more: When you are not traveling, use the app to see adventures enjoyed by other users. Perhaps you’ll even find inspiration for your next backpacking trip here!
Besides downloading backpacking apps, be sure to protect your device from impacts and moisture. Next, remember to bring a lightning connector and at least one external charging battery. Thus, you’ll never be without your phone when you need it most.
Article Submitted by Community Writer.